ENGLISH TITLE: The role of men in the family. Food and gender identity in advertising

ABSTRACT: What are the values most frequently associated with food in advertising? How have these values changed over time? Which configurations do they assume in contemporary societies? Moreover, is it possible to talk about a link between the different enhancement of food and the evolution, or the simple changes, of social models and family roles? Starting from these questions, this work explores the connection between food and cultural identity with a diachronic analysis of a corpus of advertisements. It aims at showing that the advertising representation of food has changed over time, as well as its role in defining people’s identities. More specifically, it focuses on the representation of men in advertising, positing the hypothesis that the way in which the advertising text constructs gender identity might have an impact on the social conception of the family, by feeding or eradicating certain stereotypes. Indeed, advertising gives us a glimpse into social changes. In this particular case, therefore, on the one hand it shows how the values related to food have changed according to the emerging socio–cultural context; on the other hand, it contributes to the creation and the consolidation of new ways of understanding and enhancing food.

KEYWORDS: cultural identity; diachronic analysis; food; gender stereotypes; semiotics of advertising.